Google moves towards single sign-on with OpenID — Currently users are required to create individual passwords for many websites they visit, but users would prefer to avoid this step so they could visits websites more easily. Similarly, many websites on the Internet have asked …

Your Gmail Account is Now An OpenID — You may not know it, but you probably have an OpenID. If you have a Yahoo account, you have an OpenID. If you have a Windows Live account, you will soon have an OpenID. And today, if you have a Google e-mail account, you can also start using your Gmail address as an OpenID.

Google Abandons Standards, Forks OpenID — A couple of hours ago, the Google Security Team posted an article claiming that Google's made the switch to OpenID, joining Yahoo! and Microsoft in the ranks OpenID providers. — But it looks like someone may have been a bit to hasty to pull that switch …

VCs Speak On The Economic Downturn: Batten Down the Hatches — Today at VentureBeat's Downturn RoundTable, two panels of Silicon Valley's elite - one made up of Venture Capitalists, the other of experienced entrepreneurs - offered a roomful of startup CEOs their advice for weathering the economic crisis.

Apple's $24.5B: The case for a stock buyback — Here's a headache most companies would love to have. — Apple is sitting on a huge cash reserve — $24.5 billion as of September and growing at the rate of $8 to $10 billion a year - that's doing almost nothing for it.

Taiwan's CMEL shows millimeter-thick OLED panel — A Taiwanese display maker has developed a 25-inch screen that's less than a millimeter thick. — The new screen, which was unveiled by Chi Mei EL at the FPD International exhibition in Japan on Wednesday, is based on the emerging OLED …

Why BlackBerry Storm Is An iPhone (and G-1) Killer — Having followed activity in the BlackBerry ecosystem over the past few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that BlackBerry Storm should be called BlackBerry Stealth. Why? With little media coverage, its forthcoming launch is the sleeper play …

New Xbox 360 Experience hands-on and impressions — Thanks to a special blessing from the folks in Redmond, we've had an opportunity to thoroughly give the rejiggered Xbox 360 Dash (AKA, the New Xbox Experience) a serious run through, and we've got the lowdown on the future of your gaming life.

Intel: solid-state drives boost battery life — Intel said Tuesday that solid-state drives can extend battery life up to 30 minutes compared to hard disk drives. — Add the speed advantage of solid state drives and that's two strikes against hard disks. Price parity—strike three—is still a ways off, however.

Opera CEO: Chrome has been very good for us — Opera CEO Jon von Tetzchner was in town today, so I spent a few minutes with him talking about the browser company he co-founded way back in 1995. With browser battles raging, I wanted to know how this almost historic company was holding up.

Intel, Asus want laptop designs from you — Intel and Asus have launched a site that seeks collaborators for “community designed” PCs. — The two companies say consumers can become product designers at WePC, a Web site launched Wednesday. Participants can collaborate with each …

Eight candles for Google Toolbar — Google recently celebrated its 10th birthday. As we participated in the festivities, we realized that we are coming upon another birthday: In just a few weeks, our very own Google Toolbar will be turning 8 years old. To celebrate, we wanted …

Gaming performs better for Sony as it ekes out a profit — The Japanese giant Sony runs everything from movie studios to a life insurance company, making the company's overall earnings almost meaningless. On the plus side, looking at each of Sony's divisions helps give a glimpse …

Retailers Get Social with Facebook — More retailers have fan pages on it than on other social media sites. — Facebook is the social media site of choice for many US online retailers, judging by an August 2008 study by Internet Retailer and Vovici. — Nearly one-third of responding businesses …